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International Politics and Theories
PAN Zhongqi 潘忠岐 Professor, SIRPA, Fudan R625, Wenke Building Tel: 65642320; 13917273597; Email: [email protected]
Fall 2015 Syllabus and Course Overview
Ø Course materials p http://pan.baidu.com p User name: [email protected] p Password: panlaoshi
Approaches to
International Relations
Chapter 1 International Relations in Daily Life
Ø International events in everyday lives p Terrorist attacks in the United States p Bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan p Nuclear tests in both India and Pakistan p The G-20 summits p The economic crisis of 2008 p The growth of China’s economy
International Relations in Daily Life
Ø Immediate relevance of remote events p Terrorist attacks in the United States p Bombings in Iraq and Afghanistan p Nuclear tests in both India and Pakistan p The G-20 summits p The economic crisis of 2008 p The growth of China’s economy
International Relations in Daily Life
Ø Personal participation in IR p Living p Traveling p Shopping p Learning p Working
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International Relations in Daily Life
Ø Implications for IR p Actors in IR are various. p Nation-states are major but not the only
actors. p “Non-state actors” – IOs, NGOs,
MNCs, and individual are all actors. p International relations is not just
relations among nations.
International Relations in Daily Life
Ø Implications for IR p IR is the study of the interactions
among the various actors that participate in international politics, including states, IOs, NGOs, sub-national entities like bureaucracies and local governments, and individuals.
p Other expressions of IR: international politics, world politics, global politics.
International Relations in Daily Life
Ø Foundational Questions of IR p How can human nature be characterized? p What roles does the individual play in IR? p What are the characteristics of the state? p What drives state’s international
behavior? p What are the characteristics of the
international system? p How might international system be
structured to achieve order?
Thinking Theoretically
Ø Competing explanations of IR p Realism p Liberalism p Radicalism p Critical theory (constructivism)
Thinking Theoretically
Ø Realism: a billiard table
Thinking Theoretically
Ø Liberalism: a cobweb
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Thinking Theoretically
Ø Radicalism: layers of cake? (material)
Thinking Theoretically
Ø Critical theory (constructivism): layers of cake? (discourse )
Thinking Theoretically
Ø Stephen Walt p No single approach can capture all the
complexity of contemporary world politics. Therefore we are better off with a diverse array of competing ideas rather then a single theoretical orthodoxy. Competition between theories helps reveal their strengths and weaknesses and spurs subsequent refinements, while revealing flaws in conventional wisdom.
Developing the Answers
Ø History p Answers have been discovered in history. p History provides us a crucial background
for the study of IR. p History not only provides detailed
knowledge of specific events, but also serves as a yardstick to test generalizations.
p Thucydides and his History of the Peloponnesian War
Developing the Answers
Ø Philosophy p Plato (427-347 B.C.) p Greek political philosopher who argued that the life force in man is intelligent. Only a few people can have the insight into what is good; society should submit to the authority of these philosopher-kings. Many of these ideas are developed in The Republic.
Developing the Answers
Ø Philosophy p Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) p Greek political philosopher who addressed the problem of order on the individual Greek city-state. The first to use the comparative method of research, observing multiple points in time and suggesting explanations for the patterns found.
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Developing the Answers
Ø Philosophy p Hobbes (1588-1679) p English political philosopher who in Leviathan described life in a state of nature as solitary, selfish, and brutish. Individuals and society can escape from the state of nature through a unitary state, a Leviathan.
Developing the Answers
Ø Philosophy p Rousseau (1712-1778) p French political philosopher whose seminal ideas were tested by the French Revolution. Described the state of nature in both national and international society. Argued that the solution to the state of nature is the social contract, whereby individuals gather in small communities where “general will” is realized.
Developing the Answers
Ø Philosophy p Kant (1724-1804) p German political philosopher key to the idealist or utopian school of thought. In Perpetual Peace, advocated a world federation of republics bound by the rule of law.
Developing the Answers
Ø Alternative Approaches p Behavioralism • Patterned ways of behavior EG: Singer and Small on the causes of war
Developing the Answers
Ø Alternative Approaches p Critical theory • Postmodernism: concept deconstruction EG: Weber on sovereignty
• Constructivism: discourse analysis EG: Katzenstein and The Culture of National Security
Integrating the Answers
Ø The Correlates of War project p Turning to statistical data to discover
general patterns of wars • Collect data. • Generate specific testable hypotheses that
might explain the outbreak of war. • Connect all relationships that are found
into a coherent theory of why wars occur.
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Integrating the Answers
Ø The Democratic Peace Debate p Whether democracies are more peaceful
than non-democracies? • Yes: since 1789 no wars have been fought
strictly between independent states with democratically elective governments.
• No: democratic governments were not noticeably more peace-prone or passive.
In Sum: Making Sense of IR
Ø To ask and answer core foundational questions of IR, the realist, liberal, radical, critical theories provide frameworks.
Ø To present explanations of international events, IR scholars turn to many other disciplines, including history, philosophy, behavioral psychology, and critical studies.
Approaches to Studying IR
History Examine individual or multiple cases.
Philosophy Develops rationales from core texts and analytical thinking.
Behavioralism Finds patterns in human behavior and state behavior using empirical methods.
Critical Alternative
Deconstructs major concepts and uses discourse analysis to build thick description.
In Sum: Making Sense of IR
Ø IR is a pluralistic and eclectic discipline. Ø To understand IR, we need the help of IR
theory. Ø And to understand IR theory, we need to
examine general “stuff” of diplomatic history.